Soccer

After the best debut season by a midfielder in Galaxy history, no one would have begrudged Romain Alessandrini if he had taken a trip home to France for some relaxation and celebration this winter. Yet he did neither, staying in Playa Vista where he began working out for the new MLS season before...

The Los Angeles Football Club has several issues to address ahead of its inaugural MLS game in two weeks. But resilience isn’t one of them. For the second time in three preseason games, LAFC came from behind to earn a draw, this time playing the Vancouver Whitecaps to a 4-4 tie at UCLA on Sunday....

There was plenty to like and to loath in the Galaxy’s latest preseason friendly, which ended in a 4-2 loss to the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday at Orange County’s Great Park. But for Sigi Schmid, the team’s coach, the final score doesn’t really fit into either category. “It’s preseason,” he...

So now that Carlos Cordeiro has been elected president of the U.S. Soccer Federation, what’s next? In the short term, probably not much. Cordeiro, a former Goldman Sachs executive, has promised to run the sport much like a CEO runs a major corporation. So, for the time being, expect a lot of committees...

The Blast had their nine-game win streak halted Friday night by host Cedar Rapids, 6-5. But the Blast still managed to secure the Eastern Division title of the Major Arena Soccer League because Florida lost to San Diego. Vini Dantas had one goal and two assists for Baltimore. Blast goalkeeper Joey...

Bradford Jamieson IV will miss the start of the MLS season and there is concern the rest of his career may also be in doubt after the Galaxy forward sustained the latest in a series of concussions in training last month. Jamieson, 21, banged heads with teammate Jorgen Skjelvik during practice on...

Club Tijuana Xolos set a Liga MX record by not allowing a goal in 516 minutes. The team was unbeaten after five games. That was then. Tijuana has allowed four scores leading to consecutive losses. A pair of those goals came Wednesday in a 2-0 loss to host Pachuca CF in a midweek 2018 Clausura Week...

U.S. women’s national team head coach Jill Ellis on Wednesday announced a 26-player preliminary roster for the 2018 SheBelieves Cup, and Orlando Pride players Alex Morgan and Ashlyn Harris both received call-ups. The roster will be narrowed down to 23 players prior to the team’s March 1 cup opener...

Ola Kamara scored his first goal since coming over from Columbus and coach Sigi Schmid pushed his starters through a full first half as the Galaxy beat a shorthanded New York City FC, 3-0, in an exhibition at the StubHub Center on Saturday. Tomas Hilliard-Arce, the first-round pick in last month’s...

Winning the election for the presidency of U.S. Soccer may prove the easy part for Carlos Cordeiro, the former Goldman Sachs executive who beat a field of seven candidates Saturday to take the reins of a sport riven by divisions. Now comes the hard part: governing that sport and healing those fractures,...

French club Nice says striker Mario Balotelli was shown a yellow card for complaining about racist abuse he received from Dijon fans on Saturday. Nice tweeted the Italian forward, who was booked in the 74th minute of a 3-2 away defeat by referee Nicolas Rainville, was cautioned after remonstrating...

Xolos goalkeeper Gibran Lajud was a 9-year-old boy in 2002, interested in horseback riding and with his mind set on being a pro soccer player. It was also when Jose Corona was starting a professional career that led him to a World Cup with the Mexican national team. Lajud, 24, will be tied to Corona,...

The Los Angeles Football Club remained unbeaten — and winless — two games into its first MLS preseason after playing New York City FC to a 1-1 draw Friday at UCLA. LAFC, which will make its regular-season debut next month, tied Toronto FC 2-2 last week in the first game in the expansion team’s...

Los Angeles will have more time to submit its bid to become one of the host cities for the 2026 World Cup. Alex Comisar, spokesman for Mayor Eric Garcetti, said Friday the United Bid Committee extended the deadline until later this month for Los Angeles to bid on a piece of the international event....

These eight candidates are running in the first contested election for the presidency of the U.S. Soccer Federation in two decades: Paul Caligiuri Age: 53. Job: Soccer coach. His goal put the U.S. in the 1990 World Cup, ending a 40-year absence from the tournament … Orange County native was a UCLA...

The U.S. Soccer Federation will hold its first contested presidential election in 20 years Saturday in Orlando. But given the tenor of the three-month campaign, picking a winner may do more to inflame than heal a federation still battered by missing the World Cup for the first time since 1986. ...

Steven Beitashour is, by all accounts, a really good soccer player. He’s also a good teammate and a positive presence in the locker room. So why, he wants to know, has he passed through more clubs than a tone-deaf DJ in the last six years, going from San Jose to Vancouver, then Toronto FC before...

With the league leaders in Germany, England, Spain and France enjoying huge leads six months into their seasons, the tightest battles are the ones for the European Championship and Europa League invitations that go to each league’s top runners-up. The jockeying for position continues this weekend....

Los Angeles' bid to be one of the hosts for the 2026 World Cup is in doubt as officials on Thursday gave contradicting statements about whether the city would pursue a piece of the international event. An aide to Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson said the city would not make a bid...

Ohio county officials are putting the pressure on Major League Soccer to decide whether FC Cincinnati will join the league. Hamilton County commissioners voted Wednesday to renew an agreement to pay for a 1,000-car garage at the team’s future stadium through Feb. 28. The board’s original agreement...

Ashley Cole used to think of Major League Soccer the same way some people think of rocking chairs, golf courses and Florida — as a place to retire. After a few years in the league he’s had a change of heart. For Cole, MLS has marked not an end but a beginning. The guy who didn’t want to come here...

The U.S. women's national team will play Mexico in Houston on April 8, as both teams prepare for World Cup qualifying later this year. The match at BBVA Compass Stadium will be the 35th meeting between the teams. The previous match was a 1-0 U.S. victory in 2016 Olympics qualifying. Mexico has...

Former Blast goalkeeper Sagu, who spent eight seasons in Baltimore and was part of three championship teams, will be inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame. Sagu was acquired by the Blast in a trade with the Cleveland Force just before the 2004-05 season and immediately became the team’s defensive...

The Blast announced Wednesday that former goalkeeper Sagu, of Sao Paulo, Brazil, will be inducted into the team’s Hall of Fame. But he should also be in a Hall of Fame of great sports names. When he was announced before a game at Baltimore Arena, the place rocked. But how did he come to be Sagu?...

Gibran Lajud missed practice this week. He even missed a friendly at USD against MLS champion Toronto FC. The Club Tijuana Xolos goalkeeper was busy traveling to San Antonio. Not on a vacation but for his first call-up with the Mexican national team. Lajud didn’t see playing time for El Tri in...

The new-look Galaxy picked up Saturday where the old model left off, falling 3-1 to Real Salt Lake in Tucson, Ariz., in their first preseason exhibition of the new year. But the news wasn’t all bad. Midfielder Sebastian Lletget, who had his 2017 season end early with a foot injury, played for the...

For the Blast, there’s comfort that comes with being in a close game and having the confidence they can win. The two-time defending Major Arena Soccer League champions showed that again Saturday night against the surging Syracuse Silver Knights. Captain Tony Donatelli scored his second goal of...

Ilkay Gundogan’s soccer career has been marked by two things: Success and injury. Often at the same time. Consider the run-up to the last World Cup, in which Gundogan scored in consecutive games for the German national team. But nine minutes after the second goal, he was carted off the field because...